Obama, the hang-glider.

• Author: Rothschild, Matthew
• Position: Editor's Note - Barack Obama and the fiscal cliff - Viewpoint essay

President Obama managed to hang-glide over the fiscal cliff, and was fortunate that a progressive wind blew him back to safety.

Because of pressure from his base, Obama resisted his own temptation to cut back on Social Security.

Because of pressure from his base, he succeeded in raising taxes on the rich.

Because of pressure from his base, he extended crucial programs that help the needy by extending unemployment insurance and bolstering the earned income tax credit.

The deal wasn't perfect. As Robert Reich and others have pointed out, it left the President and the country in a potential hostage-taking situation in just a matter of months, as it did nothing to increase the debt ceiling.

But I was frankly surprised that Obama didn't give more ground, since he had signaled a willingness to do so.

I wasn't surprised, though, that the super-rich got a huge break on the estate tax. If there hadn't been any deal, the wealthiest Americans upon their deaths would have been able to give their heirs only $1 million tax free. Now they'll be able to give their heirs $5 million tax free.

That's one Bush tax cut for the super-rich that survived virtually intact because that's the one they really wanted. And somehow they have an uncanny ability to get what they really want.

On balance, though, the agreement was a net plus. Progressive leaders and activists, who pressured Obama to hold his ground (or save him from himself), deserve our thanks. Now we need to keep that pressure on.

The morning after the massacre at Sandy Hook, I was driving to my dermatologist's office when I passed a local elementary school. Schoolchildren were getting off the bus and carrying their lunchboxes into the building, and parents were holding their kids' hands as they crossed the street. It was then that the enormity of the horror struck me with intense force: pure innocence, multifold, snuffed out randomly by violence.

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